Chapter 9: Guilty (9)

“Do you like that woman?”

“No. I didn’t mean it that way.”

It would be a lie to say I wasn’t happy.

Seeing her with my own eyes made me realize more clearly that this world was a game.

Judging the age of a Stella City resident by appearance was inaccurate, but she was actually young.

“Is this the first time you’ve actually seen her?”

“You’ve probably seen her face at a few official city events.

But this is the first time we’ve met like this.”

The reason that someone like her could get to that position was because of her crazy behavior.

She was someone who didn’t compromise with injustice (for Stella City), who took off her shoes and jumped into dangerous situations (even considering that it was Stella City), and who proved herself to be a fair and capable police officer.

It was a kind of madness.

In a town of people with one eye, it was like someone with two eyes was a hideous mutant.

In a city like this, anyone who spoke the truth died in an instant.

If you spoke the truth to a gang, you’d be a corpse the same day.

Without any warning or reason.

Just walking down the street, someone else takes out a $50 pistol from their pocket, shoots themselves in the head, and disappears.

Of course, that was a problem that could be solved if you lived in a safe city center.

At least, large-scale gangs couldn’t set foot in the areas directly managed by the company.

So, there were many people who spoke honestly to the gangs.

It was something that a company employee could say.

However, some of the weird ones who really ‘couldn’t stand not saying the right thing’ would say the right thing to the company as well.

The company was relatively soft, but it wasn’t fundamentally different.

It was a weak response to search through the person’s past history and internet information to make a fool of them.

There were also cases of fabricating information to make them look like a psychopath or a criminal and then throwing them in jail, and if that didn’t work out, they could hire gangsters or mercenaries and kill them.

Even scarier was just getting fired.

The murderous prices in the city center didn’t allow anyone who wasn’t affiliated with the company to stay there.

Many services were provided through insurance services provided by the company.

Until yesterday, there were many cases where medical services that could be received for just a dozen dollars were not available even if you paid dozens of times that amount.

The same was true for water, electricity, and telecommunications.

And those who were kicked out like that ended up on the outskirts of the city, where gangs lived.

There were many who were left as corpses on the streets without the company having to do anything.

“That’s funny.

People like that.”

And Lisa was someone who overcame all of that with her own skills.

There were more than a few gangs that tried to kill her.

There were more than a few companies that tried to take her down.

But she endured them all.

She fought the strongest criminals, striking at vital points like a ghost, and somehow withstood surprise attacks.

Even if the company tried to find fault with her, she didn’t leave a single problem.

Of course, if they had tried to ruin her in a more difficult and complicated way, they would have succeeded in the end.

No matter how much she was, if the company tried to kill her without thinking about the consequences, she wouldn’t be able to survive.

However, she strangely kept the line.

The companies that value profit deeply pondered whether killing her would be a gain or a loss.

“She is only alive because Hansan showed mercy.

She was an extremely lucky person.”

“Luck is also a skill.”

As time passed, the police chief changed countless times.

A person without corporate support could not build up the connections and achievements to rise to that position.

A person with corporate support would dig up the wrongdoings of other companies using “well-meaning reporters.”

Their average term of office was less than a few months.

“It was my ability that allowed me to get there.”

At that time, Lisa, who was taking on the role of the public enemy of the companies, appeared.

She was not unnecessarily involved with any company.

She is a bit toxic now that she is the police chief, but they say she was a mad dog in the field.

Lisa was a kind of neutral zone.

She was loyal to no one, and when there was something she had to bow to the company, she did not lean to one side.

She had sufficient achievements and reputation even without the help of the company.

Businesses, too, were wary that the fight to control the police would become so heated that the security of the slums would collapse.

Citizens were fed up with the news that a greedy and old police chief had been dismissed for corruption.

The market readily accepted the ‘acceptable offer.’

Just as she made Stella City a neutral zone to erase the scars of the war between corporations, she became the police chief to prevent the “police control” battle between corporations.

“As long as you have that wrong idea, you will die someday.

You are a fool who does not feel it because your body is not on fire yet.”

“… Of course.”

The secretary was right.

By the end of the game, Lisa will die.

In the ending where the protagonist cooperates with the corporation, she risks her life to investigate to stop the tyranny of the protagonist and dies by the protagonist’s hand.

In the ending where the protagonist fights the corporation, she dies after running out to protect the corporation’s property upon receiving a police dispatch.

Those who do not break will die someday.

As the police chief, she was a person who knew how to bend to some extent, but she needed more elasticity to survive in this city.

“So, you have to keep her from dying.”

“… What does that mean?”

“Didn’t you see that girl’s expression?

She wags her tail like a dog because I fed her enough.”

The expression on the secretary’s face, seen through the rearview mirror, didn’t look so good.

“Your Majesty, what you said is right.”

If I knew what you wanted, I could use it.

A fair investigation and protecting the citizens.

Hansan’s interests might be harmed, but it had nothing to do with me.

Hansan earning a few more pennies in Stella City was a minor thing to me.

If I could make a reason for the protagonist who would appear someday not to kill me, I could accept some damage.

If I could preserve my direct business while Hansan was shrinking, my influence among the Hansan companies in Stella City would increase.

This wasn’t a loss either.

Besides, while money is absolute, influence is relative.

If she was harassing other companies more than we were harmed, it couldn’t be considered a loss.

“Touching her body didn’t have any special meaning.

It’s just… I needed to keep my distance?”

“That’s why.”

“I didn’t know it would be this bad.

I thought she would be suspicious or more cautious.

Just because she said we could investigate our territory, she would do that…

It’s ridiculous.”

In order to do that, she and I must be enemies at least on the outside.

A scenario must be created where a rascal like me, intoxicated by my mood, arbitrarily orders an investigation, and she, who hates me so much, finds out about Hansan’s corruption in the process.

Then, if I show myself struggling, other companies will try to protect Lisa instead.

From Hansan Group’s perspective, the easiest thing to do to overcome their weakness would be to harm or bring Lisa down.

“It’s possible, but it’s definitely a dangerous plan.

She’ll give in someday.”

“You’ll know when you see it.”

Ordinary people like us cannot understand the thoughts of a madman.

The actions of a true madman who is not afraid to literally lose his own life for an invisible value.

***

“You crazy bitch, drive slowly!

You don’t even have a license!

What are you going to do if you get caught?”

“Just run away like this!”

Luna and Lavina were trembling in anxiety in the car driven by Doris.

“Please, don’t do anything unnecessarily dangerous.

Do you really want to die?”

“Okay, okay.”

At Luna’s words, Doris slowed down.

Even that slowed down was barely enough to exceed the speed limit of Stella City.

They entered the broker’s residence in an instant, and walked to their destination without paying attention to the decadent atmosphere around them.

“Why did you insist on coming here when you could have just called?”

“Be careful.

There must be a reason.”

The three women entered a perfectly normal building that stood out in this violent city.

The building was like a gentleman in a suit looking through documents in the middle of an orgy.

Doris entered the broker’s residence and looked around to find the person who had called her.

“You’re here, Fumiko.”

“It’s always noisy.

Come inside.”

After confirming that all three women had entered, the white-haired old man locked the door without a care.

“I’m suddenly feeling uneasy.

You’re not trying to sell us out, are you?”

“You don’t have that much faith.

A broker’s life depends on trust.

Rather than losing my trust by catching a petty criminal like you, I’d rather just use the money I’ve saved to leave Stella City.”

“Petty criminal?

Aren’t I a big shot?”

“A big shot in this business.

Even so, I’m just a mercenary who finds dead people for gangs and cleans up the mess.”

“I told you I don’t take on corporate work.”

The broker, Fumiko, pressed a button on a small machine.

Searching for wiretapping and video recording devices.

Light emitted, and it scanned everything in the room carefully.

This area is safe.

Wiretapping and video recording devices with a certain level of protection or overly primitive recording devices cannot be detected.

“What are you doing that you’re doing?”

Doris frowned.

If it was this important, it was obvious that it couldn’t be done over the phone or through text messages that would leave a record.

“Even a small mercenary like you should start becoming a big shot.

This is a corporate request.”

“Grandma, didn’t you hear what I just said?

I don’t take corporate orders.

I told you, they’re just too shabby.”

The reason poor people use mercenaries is because they don’t have the ability to do the job.

They don’t have a way to find their kidnapped comrades, or they don’t have a way to get revenge on the criminals who killed their family or comrades.

However, corporations were a little different.

The money they gave was not small, but the work they gave was dirty and evil.

In the first place, he was a capable person.

If it was something that could be done publicly, it would make sense to use the police that they could use as their own limbs or the internal force team of the company.

The reason they used mercenaries was simply to avoid responsibility.

It meant that it was a crime that even the laws and regulations that the company could manipulate at will would not allow.

“I’m giving it to you because it doesn’t seem like the kind of request you’re thinking of.”

“Who is it?”

“Hansan.”

“Hansan?

Those scumbags?

No, Fumiko?

If you really come off like this, I don’t think I’ll be able to do business with you in the future?”

Doris wasn’t the only one who was angry.

Luna didn’t say anything, but her eyes showed her strong rejection.

Although Ravina had relatively little hostility toward corporations, she wasn’t the type of person who looked favorably on them.

“I told you that it wasn’t something that would happen.”

“Then what is it?”

“An investigation request.

An investigation into a recent industrial accident.”

“What?”

It wasn’t illegal.

It wasn’t some dirty business that mixed violence, crime, murder, and theft.

It was a request that exceeded Doris’ expectations.